$14.5B Bitcoin Theft Linked to LuBian Mining Pool Uncovered by Arkham Intelligence

A massive bitcoin theft tied to a little-known Chinese mining pool may have been the largest in history, according to new research by Arkham Intelligence. The onchain analytics firm revealed that 127,426 BTC — valued at $3.5 billion in December 2020 — was stolen from LuBian Mining Pool, which at the time controlled nearly 6% of Bitcoin’s global hash rate. Today, those stolen funds are worth roughly $14.5 billion.

Arkham’s findings, shared on Aug. 2 via X, mark the first public disclosure of the breach. The firm traced the hack to Dec. 28, 2020, when over 90% of LuBian’s bitcoin holdings were drained. Two days later, another $6 million in BTC and USDT linked to LuBian’s Bitcoin Omni addresses was also stolen. In response, LuBian moved its remaining 11,886 BTC to recovery wallets by year-end.

The investigation uncovered OP_RETURN messages embedded in Bitcoin transactions, with LuBian reportedly spending 1.4 BTC on over 1,500 messages pleading with the hacker to return the funds — a strong indication the messages originated from the legitimate wallet owner.

Arkham attributes the breach to a flawed private key generation method, making the wallet vulnerable to brute-force attacks. The stolen BTC has remained largely inactive, aside from a consolidation in July 2024.

The hacker’s wallet is now the 13th largest bitcoin holder globally, surpassing even addresses tied to the infamous Mt. Gox collapse. Neither LuBian nor the suspected hacker has acknowledged the theft, and Arkham has not disclosed any potential identities but has published public wallet trackers for both parties.

This revelation highlights ongoing security risks in crypto infrastructure and underscores the enduring impact of historic exploits on the Bitcoin ecosystem.